Thursday, Feb. 02, 2012

Davis drops Gophers for hometown Wolfpack

Former Broughton linebacker makes quick decisionFormer Broughton linebacker makes quick decision

Broughton linebacker Drew Davis was driving down Hillsborough Street near the N.C. State Bell Tower on Friday when he got a telephone call from the Wolfpack coaches offering him a scholarship.

Tuesday afternoon, after notifying the staff at Minnesota, where he was originally committed, that he would not be coming, Davis committed to his hometown school.

“I can just about walk to the stadium,” the 6-foot-4, 240-pound linebacker said. “I was born and raised in Raleigh. I’ve been to State games for years. It is an exciting time.”

State offered on Friday, but Davis took time to talk with his family and pray about this decision, he said.

“I have the utmost respect for the staff at Minnesota and I know they are all great coaches,” he said. “But one of the things my family and I talked about was where would I be happiest if I wasn’t playing football.”

Davis averaged about 15 tackles per game for Broughton.

He said the State coaches indicated that he would have an opportunity to contribute next year, probably as a weakside linebacker and in blitz packages.

National signing day, when players may sign binding national letters of intent is Feb. 1.

Gibbons AD moves: Dean Monroe, athletics director at Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons for the past 22 years, was named to the same position at Saint Mary’s School on Monday. He will begin at his new school in July.

In addition to his athletics director duties, Monroe will coach basketball at the all-girls boarding school.

“When I started at Gibbons, we had 380 students, and I knew every one of them and I coached every sport,” Monroe said. “Now, we’ve got about 800 kids in the athletic program, and I’ve tried different ways, but I just don’t feel as much a part of their lives.

“I love Gibbons, and I’m pleased with where the athletics program is now. We have some outstanding programs and tremendous facilities. The people here are wonderful. But it is exciting to think of a new challenge.”

Since Saint Mary’s is a boarding school, Monroe, 50, and his family will live on campus. He has four daughters, ages 23, 22, 12 and 8.

“One of the most exciting things is that the girls will be able to walk out the front door and be at the fields, where I will be working,” Monroe said.

Henderson gets 3,000th: Neuse Christian senior guard Terry Henderson scored his 3,000th career boys basketball points Saturday night in a 109-57 victory over Raleigh Christian.

Henderson reached the milestone with an offensive rebound and put back basket with a minute left in the third quarter.

He added two free throws and came out of the game with 28 points.

Henderson had 3,002 points during his five-year varsity career before Monday night’s game at Greensboro Day. His four-year scoring total is 2,587 points. The West Virginia University recruit is averaging 21.0 points per game.

His next game is Tuesday, Feb. 7, at Wilmington Christian.

ACC trails: According to the Scout.com conference rankings, the ACC as a whole isn’t bringing in a highly regarded football recruiting class. The ACC is fifth behind the Southeastern Conference, the Big 12, the Pac-12 and the Big Ten in the current Scout.com conference rankings.

The rankings will change on signing day, of course, but Miami’s class is ranked No. 6 in the country. Clemson, Florida State and Virginia are in the top 25 at Nos. 11, 13 and 24, respectively.

The rest of the league are Virginia Tech (30), Maryland (39), North Carolina (42), N.C. State (t49), Georgia Tech (51), Duke (68), Wake Forest (70) and Boston College (72).

Scout.com has East Carolina’s class ranked 11th in Conference USA and 103rd overall.

Summers decision: Greensboro Page High quarterback James Summers told WFMY in Greensboro that the offensive set of new coach Larry Fedora was a factor in Summers switching his commitment from N.C. State to North Carolina.

Asked what led to his decision to change, Summers told WFMY, “The new offense that they run over there, and the competition there, I feel like it’s a better place for me to go on with my career – and have a better chance to make things happen up there.”

Recruiting analyst Chad Simmons of Scout.com said Fedora must have made a connection with Summers.

“Something clicked,” Simmons said. “Larry Fedora is young and up-and-coming. He was able to build a relationship very quickly.”

About a week ago, Summers’ commitment to State was called “rock solid” after he made his official visit to the Wolfpack.